It is important to point out here that this academic year (2008-2009), the official announcement for the experimental implementation of the European Language Portfolio in all Extremadura State Schools has been published in DOE (May, 29. Friday 2009).
It is a document in which those who are learning or have learned a language - whether at school or outside school - can record and reflect on their language learning and cultural experiences.
The portfolio contains a language passport which its owner regularly updates. A grid is provided where his/her language competences can be described according to common criteria accepted throughout Europe and which can serve as a complement to customary certificates. The document also contains a detailed language biography describing the owner's experiences in each language and which is designed to guide the learner in planning and assessing progress. Finally, there is a dossier where examples of personal work can be kept to illustrate one's language competences.
The Passport section provides an overview of the individual's proficiency in different languages at a given point in time; the overview is defined in terms of skills and the common reference levels in the Common European Framework; it records formal qualifications and describes language competencies and significant language and intercultural learning experiences; it includes information on partial and specific competence; it allows for self-assessment, teacher assessment and assessment by educational institutions and examinations boards; it requires that information entered in the Passport states on what basis, when and by whom the assessment was carried out. To facilitate pan-European recognition and mobility a standard presentation of a Passport Summary is promoted by the Council of Europe for ELPs for adults. Language Passport (631k) Document PDF
The electronic version of the standard Language Passport for adults is one of the Europass documents, a European Union initiative to:
Make your skills and qualifications clearly and easily understood in Europe (European Union, EFTA/EEA and candidate countries);
The Language Biography facilitates the learner's involvement in planning, reflecting upon and assessing his or her learning process and progress; it encourages the learner to state what he/she can do in each language and to include information on linguistic and cultural experiences gained in and outside formal educational contexts; it is organised to promote plurilingualism i.e. the development of competencies in a number of languages.
Dossier
The Dossier offers the learner the opportunity to select materials to document and illustrate achievements or experiences recorded in the Language Biography or Passport.
Aims and functions of a European Language Portfolio
The European Language Portfolio project has two main aims:
a) to motivate learners by acknowledging their efforts to extend and diversify their language skills at all levels;
b) to provide a record of the linguistic and cultural skills they have acquired (to be consulted, for example, when they are moving to a higher learning level or seeking employment at home or abroad).
Points a) and b) refer to the two basic functions of the European Language Portfolio:
a) The pedagogic function
· Enhance the motivation of the learners
- to improve their ability to communicative in different languages
- to learn additional languages
- to seek new intercultural experiences
· Incite and help learners to
- reflect their objectives, ways of learning and success in language learning
- plan their learning
- learn autonomously
· Encourage learners to enhance their plurilingual and intercultural experience, for example through
- contacts and visits
- reading
- use of the media
- projects
b) The documentation and reporting function
The European Language Portfolio aims to document its holder's plurilingual language proficiency and experiences in other languages in a comprehensive, informative, transparent and reliable way. The instruments contained in the ELP help learners to take stock of the levels of competence they have reached in their learning of one or several foreign languages in order to enable them to inform others in a detailed and internationally comparable manner.
There are many occasions to present a Language Portfolio which is up to date, for example a transfer to another school, change to a higher educational sector, the beginning of a language course, a meeting with a career advisor, or an application for a new post. In these cases the ELP is addressed to persons who have a role in decisions which are important for the owner of the Language Portfolio. A learner may also be interested in having such documentation for him-/herself.
Principles
All competence is valued, regardless whether gained inside or outside of formal education.
- The European Language Portfolio is the property of the learner.
- It is linked to the Common European Framework of reference for Languages.
- A set of common principles ad guidelines have been agreed for all Portfolios.
Recommendation N° R (98) 6 of the Committee of Ministers to Member States concerning Modern Languages recommends among other measures the development and use by learners of a personal document (European Language Portfolio) to record their qualifications and other significant linguistic and cultural experiences in an internationally transparent manner as part of an effort to extend and diversify language learning at all levels in a lifelong perspective.
The Ministers of Education of all the member States of the Council of Europe have recommended that governments, in keeping with their education policy, support the introduction of a European Language Portfolio.
Resolution on the European Language Portfolio (adopted at the 20th Session of the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education of the Council of Europe, Cracow, Poland, 15-17 October 2000)
2. Europass
What is it?
The Europass Language Passport allows you to describe your language skills, skills that are vital for learning and working in Europe.
The Europass Language Passport was developed by the Council of Europe as part of the European Language Portfolio which consists of three documents: the Language Passport, the Language Biography and the Dossier.
Create your Europass Language Passport now using online instructions and examples. You will then receive the completed Language Passport electronically (download or e-mail).
Update your Europass Language Passport (XML or PDF XML)If you already have a Europass Language Passport in XML or PDF+XML format, you can upload it and update your data. Your personal data will be automatically inserted in the system.
My idea is to try to develop an e-portfolio, webfolio, or even wikifolio, since the students are going to elaborate one in their personal wikis. It will be a way of approaching their language acquisition to everybody: friends, parents and teachers, and that it might be useful for a future job.
Why the digital format? I think it is the best option since we are immersed in the world of the new technologies:
1. It is better than having it written on a piece of paper.
2. It is easy to carry, we can use a pen drive or a hard disk, or even our own computer (laptop) and send it via email.
3. The student plays an important part and have much more control in the acquisition of the language.
Thanks to the eportfolio, everyone may know our knowledge on different languages and their culture. Hence, the student will have a digital identity.
Click here to see how to implement the eportfolio in our school.
Table of Contents
It is important to point out here that this academic year (2008-2009), the official announcement for the experimental implementation of the European Language Portfolio in all Extremadura State Schools has been published in DOE (May, 29. Friday 2009).
Portfolio[1]
1. Portfolio
What is a European Language Portfolio?
It is a document in which those who are learning or have learned a language - whether at school or outside school - can record and reflect on their language learning and cultural experiences.
The portfolio contains a language passport which its owner regularly updates. A grid is provided where his/her language competences can be described according to common criteria accepted throughout Europe and which can serve as a complement to customary certificates. The document also contains a detailed language biography describing the owner's experiences in each language and which is designed to guide the learner in planning and assessing progress. Finally, there is a dossier where examples of personal work can be kept to illustrate one's language competences.
Language Passport
It can be completed online : http://europass.cedefop.eu.int/
Language Biography
The Language Biography facilitates the learner's involvement in planning, reflecting upon and assessing his or her learning process and progress; it encourages the learner to state what he/she can do in each language and to include information on linguistic and cultural experiences gained in and outside formal educational contexts; it is organised to promote plurilingualism i.e. the development of competencies in a number of languages.
Dossier
The Dossier offers the learner the opportunity to select materials to document and illustrate achievements or experiences recorded in the Language Biography or Passport.
Aims and functions of a European Language Portfolio
The European Language Portfolio project has two main aims:
a) to motivate learners by acknowledging their efforts to extend and diversify their language skills at all levels;
b) to provide a record of the linguistic and cultural skills they have acquired (to be consulted, for example, when they are moving to a higher learning level or seeking employment at home or abroad).
Points a) and b) refer to the two basic functions of the European Language Portfolio:
a) The pedagogic function
· Enhance the motivation of the learners
- to improve their ability to communicative in different languages
- to learn additional languages
- to seek new intercultural experiences
· Incite and help learners to
- reflect their objectives, ways of learning and success in language learning
- plan their learning
- learn autonomously
· Encourage learners to enhance their plurilingual and intercultural experience, for example through
- contacts and visits
- reading
- use of the media
- projects
b) The documentation and reporting function
The European Language Portfolio aims to document its holder's plurilingual language proficiency and experiences in other languages in a comprehensive, informative, transparent and reliable way. The instruments contained in the ELP help learners to take stock of the levels of competence they have reached in their learning of one or several foreign languages in order to enable them to inform others in a detailed and internationally comparable manner.
There are many occasions to present a Language Portfolio which is up to date, for example a transfer to another school, change to a higher educational sector, the beginning of a language course, a meeting with a career advisor, or an application for a new post. In these cases the ELP is addressed to persons who have a role in decisions which are important for the owner of the Language Portfolio. A learner may also be interested in having such documentation for him-/herself.
Principles
All competence is valued, regardless whether gained inside or outside of formal education.
- The European Language Portfolio is the property of the learner.
- It is linked to the Common European Framework of reference for Languages.
- A set of common principles ad guidelines have been agreed for all Portfolios.
Recommendation N° R (98) 6 of the Committee of Ministers to Member States concerning Modern Languages recommends among other measures the development and use by learners of a personal document (European Language Portfolio) to record their qualifications and other significant linguistic and cultural experiences in an internationally transparent manner as part of an effort to extend and diversify language learning at all levels in a lifelong perspective.
The Ministers of Education of all the member States of the Council of Europe have recommended that governments, in keeping with their education policy, support the introduction of a European Language Portfolio.
Resolution on the European Language Portfolio (adopted at the 20th Session of the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education of the Council of Europe, Cracow, Poland, 15-17 October 2000)
2. Europass
What is it?
The Europass Language Passport allows you to describe your language skills, skills that are vital for learning and working in Europe.
The Europass Language Passport was developed by the Council of Europe as part of the European Language Portfolio which consists of three documents: the Language Passport, the Language Biography and the Dossier.
View examples of Europass Language Passports
Using the Europass Language Passport
You have three options:
Articles:
Article 1: Portfolios in Secondary ESL Classroom Assessment: Bringing it All Together
Article 2:
E-Portfolios for Teaching English as a Second Language
portfolio (materials)
3. ePortfolio
My idea is to try to develop an e-portfolio, webfolio, or even wikifolio, since the students are going to elaborate one in their personal wikis. It will be a way of approaching their language acquisition to everybody: friends, parents and teachers, and that it might be useful for a future job.
Why the digital format? I think it is the best option since we are immersed in the world of the new technologies:
1. It is better than having it written on a piece of paper.
2. It is easy to carry, we can use a pen drive or a hard disk, or even our own computer (laptop) and send it via email.
3. The student plays an important part and have much more control in the acquisition of the language.
Thanks to the eportfolio, everyone may know our knowledge on different languages and their culture. Hence, the student will have a digital identity.
Click here to see how to implement the eportfolio in our school.